a business model for the future of all music artists and an age of
infinite downloadable reproduction:
1) a live experience cannot be recorded, even if it is a recording
of a live event. the old 'you had to be there to believe it' saying
will continue to pay musicians. but they have to be performers and
they have to make performance an experience worth paying for... not
the usual laptop bullshit... the old walter benjamin idea of 'aura'
will become even more important and intrinsic to an artist's
financial well-being.
2) peripheral crap, like t-shirts, hats, pins, and limited edition
posters... *material* souvenirs of that live experience. the
rolling stones have got this down to a science. look at how a band
like phish succeeds (they're millionaires) in a business paradigm
that essentially allows the giving away of their music... see:
www.phish.com and www.livephish.com. you might not like the music
but it's a brilliant business model. as are the grateful dead.
3) online music (just like the radio) should be given away for
free. if the music is good it will stimulate 1 and 2. music should
be thought of a promotional material for other ancillary cash
generating ventures. even though it is, it should not be
rationalized as the product itself. this is the *number one*
problem artists still seem to have. you have to give your art away
for free in order to build a fan base that will A] pay large sums
of money to see the said act perform B) cause them to pop over to
cafepress.com (one of the more brilliant web services to come along
in a long time) and buy related subcultural semiotic identifiers
(which they will - how many of you proudly display your
'microsound' tees, even if the meaning is lost on the great unwashed?)
4) packaging has to be something worth buying. or at least have the
appearance of worth buying. unconventional materials and creativity
should be the rule here. no more plastic jewel cases that break. no
more boring black vinyl. we need die cutouts, new fabrics,
beautiful tactile art worth owning... high concept packaging that
reflects the price of the CD and makes it worth having and
*collecting*.
i mentioned phish before. i doubt if many of you have even heard of
this band. they allow free taping at all their shows. now they
broadcast a soundboard mix within a small range so that fans can
use their hi end tuners and DAT machines to record album quality
material for free. these guys have operated so successfully outside
the 'grid,' outside the mainstream channels of so-called pop super
stardom under their own terms. no music videos, no hit singles, and
still the grassroots following allows them a thriving business and
has made each and everyone of them stinking rich.
it can work.
it is the future paradigm for musicians and music in an age of
piracy. change, especially drastic change, is the catalyst of
innovation. so instead of suing 12 year girls for downloading the
latest madonna, musicians should view this tumultuous times as an
opportunity for the new.
i'm an optimist here in a world that has no time to whine about the
past. you either evolve or you're extinct, just the way darwin
would have wanted it.
excelsior!
g.
will soderberg wrote:
the impression that i am getting is that audio (by itself) will
largely
become separated from physical media... downloads, podcasts, etc...
the medium that appears to my observing eye to be emergent is the
dvd...
folks seem willing to pay for something with the visual element
and easter
egg bonus items... with the home theater replacing the home stereo...
i believe that this is a reaction to the excessive price of most
cds...
coupled with the convenience of pod-style drives... for better or
worse,
most folks seem to care little if their music is encoded in a lossy
format... as long as it is easy to 'use'...
of course there will be exceptions, collectors items with
packaging appeal,
hi-def audiophile products and so on... but the market appears to
be moving
away from physical audio media pretty fast...
~will soderberg
michigan
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: microsound-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
For additional commands, e-mail: microsound-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
website: http://www.microsound.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: microsound-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
For additional commands, e-mail: microsound-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
website: http://www.microsound.org